It was several years ago now, lunchtime in the office kitchen. I was eating a baked potato and veggie patty, my go-to “what combination of random food items in the house could pass as a meal?” option.
I mentioned my mom’s upcoming visit to a coworker and she asked if I was excited.
I said something like, “oh, of course, it’ll be great! Who doesn’t like time with their mom, ya know?”
I don’t know if it was my coworker’s expression or speaking that sentence aloud, but I distinctly remember the sudden realization that not everyone has a good relationship with their mother.
When something is undeniably true for you, it can be hard to see it.
I logically knew that not every mother-daughter relationship was straight out of Gilmore Girls, but my positive relationship with my mother had been ingrained in me to a point of never being questioned. Of course you love your mom.
Beyond realizing that some people didn’t have the same kind of relationship I did, I had a moment of asking myself, how did you not see this before?
But I don’t think that’s helpful. It’s better to ask, how can I continue to uncover more of my own truths?
Experiencing new cultures, meeting new people, and even verbalizing our ingrained assumptions are all helpful in this uncovering process.
Identifying these truths not only helps you understand yourself better, but also enables you to be a more empathetic person. Certainly a worthy goal.
A few weeks after that thought-provoking lunch, my mom came to visit. We did touristy things and had a ball. And while I had always appreciated my mother, somehow, I was all the more grateful.
To being better without getting confused when someone doesn’t like chocolate,
Elizabeth